Enchantress
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Well, nothing went as planned. Ahhhhhhh! First, living in MAINE is dreadful. Nine hours to drive there. And, of course, the first 5 are always the same anytime we go anywhere! The good part about Horseheads is that it was very easy to find (as we drive right by the entrance saying "hey there's the gas station") hehe.
Where to even begin! Well, I had wanted to leave around noon. Now, for us that means probably closer to 1 and I've come to accept that. Something always comes up. Things break..horses don't load..you know how it goes. So...it was 'round about 3:30 when we got going. Tally that up..3:30 plus 9 hrs and 30 min for gas stops. *gulp* 1 am! Oh well. Of course, the weather has been horrible - rain, high winds some flooding and mother nature decided it wasn't time to stop yet, so there we are driving 40 mph through the hills and I'm focusing so hard on where i'm going *ding ding ding* OMG there's my gas light! How far did it say the next stop was?! We did manage to coast into the rest stop and off we go again!
Fast forward: Now, it's about 1:30 and I'm exhausted. I need gas again and I see a gas station and a hotel and we're just about 40 miles from the show grounds. Sounds good to me! We'd planned on sleeping in the back of my car to save money so we gas up, pull into the hotel parking lot (yeah we're nice like that..sleep there in my car LOL) unload some buckets and bale of hay and settle down for the night. I always carry my keys in my pocket and use the button to automatically lock us in. Well, about 3 am I hear a little more raucous than usual in the trailer and decide to get up and check on the horses. Push the little button to unlock my door and out I crawl as quietly as possible as to not disturb the dog. Never mind Hillary, I just don't want to wake the dog! hehe. Open the door and that's NOT the face I expected to see! But they're all content where they are now. Backtrack a little. Barnbum you were close! We brought 8 horses 6 of them being intact boys. I had my 2 yr old colt, a board, my yearling colt, 3 yr mare, 5 yr mare, 3 yr stallion then boinky's 3 yr stallion all smooshed in with no dividers (they all love each other and get along famously) then a board and her older stallion (I think he's around 7) and then another divider then my 4 yr old stallion. The five with no dividers had decided they wanted a new buddy so had relocated themselves a little and one turned around. No biggie. Back to bed.
Alarm goes off at 6:15. Note to self: remember to see when the show starts. 6:15 is safe..we should be there by 7 and even if it starts at 8 that's plenty of time, but I'm thinking for some reason it started at 9. So I have plenty of time. Snooze. Snooze. Ok it's 6:45 time to get up. Push the button to open the door. Nothing. *sigh* It was in my pocket all night and I probably broke it. Grrrrr. Reach up front to unlock it. Nothing. Um....not good? JUMP into the back seat again and manually unlock, run to the front and try to start my car. Nothing. DEFINITELY NOT GOOD! It's almost 6:50...where's that show program. OMG it starts at 8 and we're still a good 40 min away! What now...well..there's a garage behind us, but that's a joke at 6:50 on a Saturday morning. Walk over to the gas station (another mental note to self..from now on always make sure to find a hotel to park in near a gas station open 24 hrs!) Cashier doesn't have any jumper cables so he asks and thank GOD some very very kind gentleman had jumper cables. So back we go and it's only 7..we can still make it! So we start attaching to what we think is the battery. Now..you'll notice I put what we THINK is the battery....attach the second cable and POOF sparks fly. Um..not good? Ohhhh it's the FUSE BOX Big oopsie!
: Find the RIGHT "battery" and vroom vroom yay!
So we get going, pull in about 7:40 and head to sign in. Oh yeah, have to get measured FIRST...8 horses to measure and I'm supposed to be in class 111. So we run up and grab the first two horses. Get down there and had forgotten the paperwork. Well, she was kind enough to measure anyway and just write it down. I promised her we'd be right back..again..and again...and again. So we're off measuring and um...problem...the 2 yr old colt I always measure 33.25-33.5 at home is measure 32.75. Sure..no problem..I wanted 4 consecutive classes anyway, why not!
OK so that bumps my first class a little back..a good thing since I wouldn't have been ready for the first one anyway, but now there's the 4 consecutive classes. For the boys I have one solid black, one solid buckskin, one pinto with LOTS of white and a silver dapple with nice high white socks. yep, you can see where I'm going with this one....they were FILTHY! Thank goodness for Hillary (many many many thanks!) for helping get the horses ready. Ok..so thank you for just getting the horses ready..I wasn't much help since I was trying to find my clothes. I didn't think I could gain weight in 3 weeks, but I think I did cause those pants were a little tight. While we were getting everyone ready we got to meet barnbum! Of course, I had noticed earlier who it was because of the horses, and I see her standing there and got up the nerve to say HI as Hillary and I are both shy people. So she's walking over (wearning a shirt that says barnbum no less) and I only had noticed the horses. Yeah..that's how observant I am!
So I'm running down to one of my classes and I think it was Linda (fred) that yells, "if you keep going like that you'll lose 10 lbs by the end of the weekend". Hmm. I could only wish I was that lucky! Classes went horribly. I was too rushed and they were too hyper. First one in was my pinto stud in the A model class. Yeah, so I doubt the dirt did much for him, but he ended up with a 3rd and 4th I think of 4. Better than expected! He showed pretty well for me all things considered and I was happy enough with him other than some of the rearing and hopping. The whole class I can hear off and on the buckskin stallion screaming. So I grab him and go in. The whole class he pretty much just practiced the two-step. Back and forth..back and forth..every time something moved so did his body. He can't just turn his head and look, he has to turn his WHOLE body. Sheesh. We ended up with a 5th and 6th of 6, I think. Run back up to the trailer for round two. The yearling went in..stand..what's that?! Show my neck..how do you like this ewe-necked look..not so much eh. 6th of 6th under both hehe. Silver dapple (who showed so WELL 3 weeks ago and got 2nd under Lee Crutchfield) half asleep, then he, too, did the two-step and a little salsa thrown in there. Last again. Oh well.
Ahhhhh I can breathe for a little bit. Got to actually talk a little and finish unpacking before the girls had to go in. I'm slowly getting ready and pretty much just have to put on my jacket and show halter for the B mares class. Hanging out, hear a first call for the class. Next thing they're paging me over the loud speaker. Um...WHAT?!? So I RUSH down and find out they just wanted to have me in the waiting area..whew! Three mares in the class and she was second which defaulted into reserve champion sr B mare too. Woohoo! Best of all, this is my most psychotic horse..very nervous and has serious "where's my buddy" issues and she stood like a ROCK and showed beautifully! Big kisses for her. Start getting my other mare ready...LUNCH! Thank you for lunch!
We needed to get Hillary's older stud clipped before his class as he was a little mini-percheron so we decided great..now's a good time. Of course, he detests clippers. Need I say more. A few less toes and some skin later we head back to the trailer. So lunch break is over and back into the ring my A mare goes. Ooo here comes the judge and she just doesn't want to stand up like I know she can..oh well..ooo here's the other judge and miracle of miracles..she's being her "usual" stunning well behaved self giving me the neck and flattening out that topline..god bless her. So of 8/9 mares we got a 3rd for one judge and nothing for the other. YAY! I'm so happy now! My day has been made.
Hillary had suckered me into driving one of her boys since they were both in the CP A open class so hey, why not. Driving is a lot of effort. Now I remember why I don't drive. hehe. He was an arse off and on, and for some reason we had thought it was roadster and then CP so they were ready plenty in advance. On the plus side, standing is not his strongest thing and we got to do a lot of it. A lot. Did I mention a LOT! Of course, never thought to check and make sure we had TWO whips. THANK YOU LINDA for letting me borrow yours! They were signed up for the CP open and the stakes. First class went reasonably well since they hadn't been worked a ton this year. My luck though a horse started acting up..like seriously acting up, right in front of me so I kept circling on one end until she could get out of the cart and get him in the center. He lengthened for me, he turned, he walked (jigged a few steps) and didn't really want to stand in the lineup, but considering how much I drive and how much he's been worked..YAY! We're ALIVE! That was my goal with 9 horses in that ring driving. And we got a 6th under both judges woohoo! Second class he spent most of the class talking to the "girl" in front of him, looking up at the people on the rail....and I mean, looking UP lol and grunting and groaning. And I think he was getting his jollies (gotta love those boys!) in the lineup in both classes? Country pleasure huh? He had the "pleasure" part down *snicker* though the driving part wasn't much of a "country pleasure" but oh well WE'RE ALIVE!!!
Hillary's green horse finished I think 5th under one judge in the first class and I can't remember about the stakes.
Ok let's watch a few classes and relax, let the horses have some more food before we pack up and go. UGH next thing we know it's 7 pm. We ended up driving as far back as the hotel we stayed in the parking lot the night before and I broke down and checked in. I wanted a hot shower, a nice big bed and no horses stomping all night! Ahhhh. Took my shower and was out the second my head hit the oh-so-soft pillow.
We slept in a little later than planned (10 am!) and managed to get home just about 7:30 Sunday. Oh well, at least it was a much nicer drive in the sun!
All things considered it wasn't a bad weekend. Long, a little bit of stress, but not bad. I've pretty much learned a long time ago to just have fun and take it as it comes. Yeah, it was a pretty ok weekend. No one got loose, no one died, did get a little beat up, but we're ALIVE!!
And the best part....we get to do this all over again for Area!!!! Only with probably more horses. :bgrin
Where to even begin! Well, I had wanted to leave around noon. Now, for us that means probably closer to 1 and I've come to accept that. Something always comes up. Things break..horses don't load..you know how it goes. So...it was 'round about 3:30 when we got going. Tally that up..3:30 plus 9 hrs and 30 min for gas stops. *gulp* 1 am! Oh well. Of course, the weather has been horrible - rain, high winds some flooding and mother nature decided it wasn't time to stop yet, so there we are driving 40 mph through the hills and I'm focusing so hard on where i'm going *ding ding ding* OMG there's my gas light! How far did it say the next stop was?! We did manage to coast into the rest stop and off we go again!
Fast forward: Now, it's about 1:30 and I'm exhausted. I need gas again and I see a gas station and a hotel and we're just about 40 miles from the show grounds. Sounds good to me! We'd planned on sleeping in the back of my car to save money so we gas up, pull into the hotel parking lot (yeah we're nice like that..sleep there in my car LOL) unload some buckets and bale of hay and settle down for the night. I always carry my keys in my pocket and use the button to automatically lock us in. Well, about 3 am I hear a little more raucous than usual in the trailer and decide to get up and check on the horses. Push the little button to unlock my door and out I crawl as quietly as possible as to not disturb the dog. Never mind Hillary, I just don't want to wake the dog! hehe. Open the door and that's NOT the face I expected to see! But they're all content where they are now. Backtrack a little. Barnbum you were close! We brought 8 horses 6 of them being intact boys. I had my 2 yr old colt, a board, my yearling colt, 3 yr mare, 5 yr mare, 3 yr stallion then boinky's 3 yr stallion all smooshed in with no dividers (they all love each other and get along famously) then a board and her older stallion (I think he's around 7) and then another divider then my 4 yr old stallion. The five with no dividers had decided they wanted a new buddy so had relocated themselves a little and one turned around. No biggie. Back to bed.
Alarm goes off at 6:15. Note to self: remember to see when the show starts. 6:15 is safe..we should be there by 7 and even if it starts at 8 that's plenty of time, but I'm thinking for some reason it started at 9. So I have plenty of time. Snooze. Snooze. Ok it's 6:45 time to get up. Push the button to open the door. Nothing. *sigh* It was in my pocket all night and I probably broke it. Grrrrr. Reach up front to unlock it. Nothing. Um....not good? JUMP into the back seat again and manually unlock, run to the front and try to start my car. Nothing. DEFINITELY NOT GOOD! It's almost 6:50...where's that show program. OMG it starts at 8 and we're still a good 40 min away! What now...well..there's a garage behind us, but that's a joke at 6:50 on a Saturday morning. Walk over to the gas station (another mental note to self..from now on always make sure to find a hotel to park in near a gas station open 24 hrs!) Cashier doesn't have any jumper cables so he asks and thank GOD some very very kind gentleman had jumper cables. So back we go and it's only 7..we can still make it! So we start attaching to what we think is the battery. Now..you'll notice I put what we THINK is the battery....attach the second cable and POOF sparks fly. Um..not good? Ohhhh it's the FUSE BOX Big oopsie!
So we get going, pull in about 7:40 and head to sign in. Oh yeah, have to get measured FIRST...8 horses to measure and I'm supposed to be in class 111. So we run up and grab the first two horses. Get down there and had forgotten the paperwork. Well, she was kind enough to measure anyway and just write it down. I promised her we'd be right back..again..and again...and again. So we're off measuring and um...problem...the 2 yr old colt I always measure 33.25-33.5 at home is measure 32.75. Sure..no problem..I wanted 4 consecutive classes anyway, why not!
OK so that bumps my first class a little back..a good thing since I wouldn't have been ready for the first one anyway, but now there's the 4 consecutive classes. For the boys I have one solid black, one solid buckskin, one pinto with LOTS of white and a silver dapple with nice high white socks. yep, you can see where I'm going with this one....they were FILTHY! Thank goodness for Hillary (many many many thanks!) for helping get the horses ready. Ok..so thank you for just getting the horses ready..I wasn't much help since I was trying to find my clothes. I didn't think I could gain weight in 3 weeks, but I think I did cause those pants were a little tight. While we were getting everyone ready we got to meet barnbum! Of course, I had noticed earlier who it was because of the horses, and I see her standing there and got up the nerve to say HI as Hillary and I are both shy people. So she's walking over (wearning a shirt that says barnbum no less) and I only had noticed the horses. Yeah..that's how observant I am!
So I'm running down to one of my classes and I think it was Linda (fred) that yells, "if you keep going like that you'll lose 10 lbs by the end of the weekend". Hmm. I could only wish I was that lucky! Classes went horribly. I was too rushed and they were too hyper. First one in was my pinto stud in the A model class. Yeah, so I doubt the dirt did much for him, but he ended up with a 3rd and 4th I think of 4. Better than expected! He showed pretty well for me all things considered and I was happy enough with him other than some of the rearing and hopping. The whole class I can hear off and on the buckskin stallion screaming. So I grab him and go in. The whole class he pretty much just practiced the two-step. Back and forth..back and forth..every time something moved so did his body. He can't just turn his head and look, he has to turn his WHOLE body. Sheesh. We ended up with a 5th and 6th of 6, I think. Run back up to the trailer for round two. The yearling went in..stand..what's that?! Show my neck..how do you like this ewe-necked look..not so much eh. 6th of 6th under both hehe. Silver dapple (who showed so WELL 3 weeks ago and got 2nd under Lee Crutchfield) half asleep, then he, too, did the two-step and a little salsa thrown in there. Last again. Oh well.
Ahhhhh I can breathe for a little bit. Got to actually talk a little and finish unpacking before the girls had to go in. I'm slowly getting ready and pretty much just have to put on my jacket and show halter for the B mares class. Hanging out, hear a first call for the class. Next thing they're paging me over the loud speaker. Um...WHAT?!? So I RUSH down and find out they just wanted to have me in the waiting area..whew! Three mares in the class and she was second which defaulted into reserve champion sr B mare too. Woohoo! Best of all, this is my most psychotic horse..very nervous and has serious "where's my buddy" issues and she stood like a ROCK and showed beautifully! Big kisses for her. Start getting my other mare ready...LUNCH! Thank you for lunch!
We needed to get Hillary's older stud clipped before his class as he was a little mini-percheron so we decided great..now's a good time. Of course, he detests clippers. Need I say more. A few less toes and some skin later we head back to the trailer. So lunch break is over and back into the ring my A mare goes. Ooo here comes the judge and she just doesn't want to stand up like I know she can..oh well..ooo here's the other judge and miracle of miracles..she's being her "usual" stunning well behaved self giving me the neck and flattening out that topline..god bless her. So of 8/9 mares we got a 3rd for one judge and nothing for the other. YAY! I'm so happy now! My day has been made.
Hillary had suckered me into driving one of her boys since they were both in the CP A open class so hey, why not. Driving is a lot of effort. Now I remember why I don't drive. hehe. He was an arse off and on, and for some reason we had thought it was roadster and then CP so they were ready plenty in advance. On the plus side, standing is not his strongest thing and we got to do a lot of it. A lot. Did I mention a LOT! Of course, never thought to check and make sure we had TWO whips. THANK YOU LINDA for letting me borrow yours! They were signed up for the CP open and the stakes. First class went reasonably well since they hadn't been worked a ton this year. My luck though a horse started acting up..like seriously acting up, right in front of me so I kept circling on one end until she could get out of the cart and get him in the center. He lengthened for me, he turned, he walked (jigged a few steps) and didn't really want to stand in the lineup, but considering how much I drive and how much he's been worked..YAY! We're ALIVE! That was my goal with 9 horses in that ring driving. And we got a 6th under both judges woohoo! Second class he spent most of the class talking to the "girl" in front of him, looking up at the people on the rail....and I mean, looking UP lol and grunting and groaning. And I think he was getting his jollies (gotta love those boys!) in the lineup in both classes? Country pleasure huh? He had the "pleasure" part down *snicker* though the driving part wasn't much of a "country pleasure" but oh well WE'RE ALIVE!!!
Hillary's green horse finished I think 5th under one judge in the first class and I can't remember about the stakes.
Ok let's watch a few classes and relax, let the horses have some more food before we pack up and go. UGH next thing we know it's 7 pm. We ended up driving as far back as the hotel we stayed in the parking lot the night before and I broke down and checked in. I wanted a hot shower, a nice big bed and no horses stomping all night! Ahhhh. Took my shower and was out the second my head hit the oh-so-soft pillow.
We slept in a little later than planned (10 am!) and managed to get home just about 7:30 Sunday. Oh well, at least it was a much nicer drive in the sun!
All things considered it wasn't a bad weekend. Long, a little bit of stress, but not bad. I've pretty much learned a long time ago to just have fun and take it as it comes. Yeah, it was a pretty ok weekend. No one got loose, no one died, did get a little beat up, but we're ALIVE!!
And the best part....we get to do this all over again for Area!!!! Only with probably more horses. :bgrin
